For more information, go to: Federal Register Notice

Washington, DC, January 11, 2006 - In a notice published in the Federal Register, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) announced it is seeking public comments on a new proposed rule on the duty of companies to preserve evidence related to significant chemical accidents that the Board investigates.

As the Federal Register notice points out, "In a chemical accident investigation, securing an accident scene and preserving the integrity of the evidence contained therein is critical, especially where significant explosions or fires have destroyed some or much of the relevant physical evidence at the accident site." The notice appeared in the Federal Register on January 4, 2006.

Under the proposed rule, the CSB investigator-in-charge would be authorized when appropriate to issue a written "Notice of Accident Investigation Initiation and Order to Preserve Evidence" which would require the owner or operator of an accident site to take various precautions to protect chemical and physical evidence as well as documents, records, and electronic data.

"This authority, which derives from the statute creating the CSB, will likely be used in only a handful of cases each year where there is a concern about the integrity of evidence," said CSB Chairman Carolyn W. Merritt. "Often the preservation of evidence can be assured through binding agreements among all the relevant parties. In other cases, however, the rule will be necessary to protect the federal government's authority to conduct a thorough root-cause investigation. Even in those cases, if the company enters into an agreement governing the handling of key evidence, we will typically be in a position to lift the order to preserve," Merritt added.

The proposed rule provides procedures for preserving evidence in the event of "qualifying emergencies" including operations related to rescue, firefighting, and environmental protection. The rule also does not restrict the activities of other federal, state, or local authorities or emergency responders. The regulation applies only to accidents to which the CSB deploys or intends to deploy investigators and only in cases where the owner or operator receives a written preservation notice from the CSB.

Public comments are welcome and should be directed to Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, Office of General Counsel, Attn: Christopher Warner, 2175 K Street, NW, Suite 650, Washington, DC 20037. Comments must be received on or before February 3, 2006.

The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in safety management systems, regulations, and industry standards.

The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA. Visit our website, www.csb.gov.

For more information, contact Daniel Horowitz at (202) 261-7613.